Reds walk off with another win over the Dodgers

The Cincinnati Reds' Jay Bruce (right) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run off Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw in the fourth inning on Sunday in CIncinnati. DAVID KOHL, AP

CINCINNATI – The Dodgers might have learned the difference between wanting to win and needing to win – one run.

Ryan Hanigan's one-out double in the ninth inning drove in the game-winning run as the Cincinnati Reds completed a three-game sweep of the Dodgers with a 3-2 win Sunday night.

It was the Dodgers' fourth consecutive loss -- their longest losing streak since an eight-game stretch in the dark days of early May. All three games in Cincinnati were decided by one run with the Reds winning in their final at-bat Saturday and Sunday.

The Dodgers have now lost five of their seven one-run games since winning a franchise record 12 consecutive one-run decisions.

“Overall, it's a good time for us to lose some games -- if we're going to lose -- so we can remember what that feeling is like and bounce back and hopefully gain some momentum and carry it through to the playoffs,” Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw said after the loss.

Any possible benefit notwithstanding, the Dodgers can afford to lose a few. Even with their current skid, they returned to Southern California with an 11-game lead in the NL West (just a half-game less than when they left on this trip a week ago) and their magic number to clinch the division down to 10 with 20 games to play.

The Reds, on the other hand, are in a three-way dogfight with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals for the NL Central and a chance to avoid the one-game danger of the wild-card playoff.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he still felt like his team has been playing “pressure-packed games the whole time.” But he was unsure if the difference this weekend was a difference in urgency for the two teams.

“I don’t really know,” Mattingly said. “I’ve never been in a situation where I’m managing a club with an 11-game lead in the division going into September. I’ve never really even coached on a team that’s had that type of lead.

“I think it is a little bit of human nature (to relax). But – but – it kind of goes back to the same thing for me. You get ready to play and you play and you don’t worry about where you’re at. It is hard not to know (the standings). You just have to keep pushing yourself to be ready to play.”

The Dodgers might be pushing. But they will play just two playoff-bound teams over the final six weeks of the season – the Boston Red Sox at home two weeks ago and the Reds in Cincinnati this weekend. They have lost five of the six games with their offense showing some serious vulnerability against good pitching.

The Dodgers hit .160 as a team in those games while striking out 46 times and walking just seven (only once in the series against the Reds). That produced a total of 12 runs in the six games.

“I agree. I think it is the same style (as playoff pitching will be),” Mattingly said. “But these are the type of games you expect. You don’t really expect to go score seven, eight, nine runs against a team like this even in this ballpark.

“Really, you saw two teams that didn’t score a lot of runs. It shows they pitched good and we pitched good. You make quality pitches you’re going to get outs. You see who hits good pitching. When it gets down to it and you start watching playoff games, there’s only a few guys who hit good pitching, really good pitching. So you see the guys who are those guys.”

The Cincinnati Reds' Jay Bruce (right) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run off Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw in the fourth inning on Sunday in CIncinnati. DAVID KOHL, AP
The Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez waits at home at Great American Ball Park on Sunday in Cincinnati. DAVID KOHL, AP
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly watches from the dugout at Great American Ball Park on Sunday in Cincinnati. DAVID KOHL, AP
The Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez scores off a Hanley Ramirez double in the fourth inning at Great American Ball Park on Sunday in Cincinnati. DAVID KOHL, AP
The Cincinnati Reds' Chris Heisey reacts after being hit by a Clayton Kershaw pitch in the third inning at Great American Ball Park on Sunday in Cincinnati. DAVID KOHL, AP
The Dodgers' Mark Ellisfields a ground ball hit by Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park on Sunday in Cincinnati. JAMIE SABAU, GETTY IMAGES

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